functionalism

func·tion·al·ism

(fŭnk'shŭn-ăl-izm),

A branch of psychology concerned with the function of mental processes in humans and animals, especially the role of the mind, intellect, emotions, and behavior in an individual's adaptation to the environment. Compare: structuralism.

The critical approach in HR includes at least three arguments: (a) the Human Resources area is predominantly functionalist and/or positivist; (b) the Human Resources area represents the essence of the power and control exercised by organizations; and (c) the International Human Resources' approach explains, in practice, the neo-colonialist movements of the multinationals.

We can choose to continue to use a Westphalian paradigm that assumes that the state is the exclusive source of authority, that assumes and institutionalizes a weak form of international law, and that fails to provide tools to address our most pressing international problems, or we can choose a more scientific and open-minded functionalist paradigm.

There are three normative arguments for enhancing NGO participation in policymaking: the functionalist appeal for the use of expertise; the corporatist desire to involve the affected interests; and the pluralist belief in democratic policymaking.

First, it discusses how any foundational philosophy or worldview can be positioned on a continuum formed by four basic worldviews or paradigms: functionalist, interpretive, radical humanist, and radical structuralist.

More interested in highlighting the relative strengths and weaknesses of various "perspectives" than in writing a purely diachronic history of theories, Bell traces the genealogy of three broad methodological approaches: (1) those seeking the origins and/or essence of ritual; (2) functionalists and structuralists; and (3) culturalists, including symbolists, linguists, "performance" theorists, and most recently, the "practice" theorists who have most deeply influenced Bell's own approach.

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